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Max Verstappen said he still does not understand how he finished second at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen said: "Overall, I still don't really understand how we are second, but I think as a team we performed strongly. I see it as a bit of an over-performance compared to what we expected, so I guess that's a good thing considering how everything felt. And I saw also when I jumped out of the car again, there was damage on the car for whatever reason. So it was not made easy for us."
Lewis Hamilton said mistakes on his side have been âcostlyâ in recent races after finishing fifth for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix, having qualified second but started lower down following a three-place grid penalty. Hamilton said: "Obviously frustrated, disappointed to come away with so little, given the car was good. The team did a great job, but ultimately these last few races have been costly with mistakes from myself. It's been OK. It's not been perfect from my side, so I've really got to work hard to try to figure out how I can do better in the second half."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said Oscar Piastriâs sarcastic Hungarian Grand Prix radio message was âa comment in angerâ after a collision with backmarker Carlos Sainz. Stella said: "Immediately after the race, Oscar clarified that his comment was a comment in anger. There were a couple of unfortunate episodes. Obviously, the most important is the fact that Oscar had a collision with a backmarker. And at the same time, once Lando was released, then his pace was simply mega. I think he found half a second per lap. And this pace meant that Lando could be ahead of Oscar."
Lando Norris says he produced âsome of the best pace Iâve ever hadâ on his way to winning the Hungarian Grand Prix, after losing the lead to team-mate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap. Norris said: "But man, I was pushing like hell to try and force him into a mistake or something. My pace today was probably some of the best pace I've ever had. The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident, so a great race."
Liam Lawson said Racing Bulls made the âright callâ with a two-stop strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix as he secured another top-10 finish after starting 11th following a difficult qualifying session. Lawson said: "A huge thanks to the team who made the right call on the two-stop strategy. To have two cars in the points is a great way to round off the first half of the season. To be heading into summer break fifth in the constructors' championship is a reflection of all the hard work the team has put in so far this year."
McLaren boss Andrea Stella says the teamâs Hungarian Grand Prix strategy calls were about covering Lewis Hamiltonâs undercut threat rather than trying to create a win for Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri. Stella said: "When Hamilton pits, he is in condition to undercut the two McLarens, so we needed to respond. Because if that was the right way to take the cars to victory, we needed to have a McLaren in a position of leading that way ahead of Hamilton. So, it was either Oscar or Lando. Oscar was in the lead, and we thought that he was the right car to stop for that⌠The team needed to cover Hamilton."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martinâs upgrade package has given the team a platform to build on, and he hopes further developments including an upgraded power unit at the Dutch Grand Prix can provide a ânew start of the championshipâ in the second half of the season. Alonso said: "Yeah, exactly. Especially on the engine, obviously, we are looking forward to Zandvoort and trying to get a little bit more competitive in terms of straight-line speed, which is the race that we are in the mix now. We need that extra speed on the straight so, yeah, hopefully a new start of the championship for us basically in the second part."
Toto Wolff said a start problem that dropped George Russell from sixth on the grid to 20th at the first corner of the Hungarian Grand Prix was down to an engine issue and not the Mercedes driverâs mistake. Wolff said: "It looks like he gave about 10% throttle and the whole thing revved to the maximum, he went off the throttle and it bogged down. I'm really not happy about too many mistakes that happened. So that was the reason and then he drove very well. He went through the traffic easy and then recovered, I think, the maximum points that he could have recovered."
Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari made the wrong call by pitting him under the virtual safety car at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a decision he believes âopened the doorâ to the five-second penalty he later received for pit-lane speeding. Hamilton said: "I definitely don't think we should have taken the stop; the call came literally just before the pit lane entry, and I didn't have time to debate. We've got to trust that there's a decision that's been taken, but in hindsight, my tyres were totally fine, and I was probably going to lose out to Max, but I think I could have kept third at least. It just opened the door to the penalty I got at the end."
George Russell says he is "past the point of disappointment" after an anti-stall at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix left the Mercedes driver dropping to the back on lap one and finishing seventh. Russell said: "I'm sort of past the point of disappointment now, because if I'm continuing to be disappointed with everything that goes on, I'll just be disappointed every day of the week. So it's sort of like, I've got to stay positive. Another sort of technical issue that completely ruined the race. It's just unbelievable the list of things that's happened this season."
Lando Norris said McLarenâs team rules stopped him being allowed to pit first and try an undercut on team-mate Oscar Piastri during the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite feeling he had âmuch, much better paceâ. Norris said: "I just want to win the race. There are certain rules we have as a team. We can't harm each other's race by being overly aggressive and wanting to win. But I want to win, and I certainly had much, much better pace than him. So, when I was stuck behind Oscar, Max [Verstappen] was three-four seconds behind, and at that point, he's still a threat."
Hondaâs upgraded power unit for Aston Martin will run for the first time on track during a filming day in Hungary on Wednesday, as the team looks for a further step after its new chassis package debuted at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hondaâs Shintaro Orihara said the 200km filming-day running is âa good opportunity to check how our new engine works on the chassisâ, adding: âTo introduce the new power unit in Zandvoort is quite important now the chassis is working well.â Aston Martinâs Mike Krack said the Hungary gains matched expectations: âI think the upgrade package works. And now we need to bring the next steps.â
Max Verstappen said he did not expect to be on the podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Red Bullâs qualifying struggles, but was âvery happyâ to finish second after what he described as a race of survival. Verstappen said: "Yeah, for sure [a podium and second place were beyond what we were expecting after Qualifying]. I didn't expect to be on the podium today, but we worked hard for it. I think the start was decent to get through at Turn 1 and 2, then after the first stop to get back ahead of Lewis under braking into Turn 1. Then it was just trying to survive on the [tyre] compounds, trying to make the right calls with strategy as well. I'm very happy to be second here, considering [everything]."
Oscar Piastri said Carlos Sainz had âno excuseâ for their contact when Piastri tried to lap him while fighting for victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Piastri said: "For me, there's no excuse at all. That's got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on a race track. I don't really care what excuse you give."
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